Is Boonen past his prime?

[Echoes]

De Vlaeminck say this about him or about Boonen?

I don't think he's commented on Boonen's incident yet.

He's said that time and again when and after he was racing: In Paris-Roubaix, an in-form rider never crashes or punctures.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Past his prime? Are you crazy, did you not see him trying to ride back on before the crash.

+1

He actually was quite close to peleton until he crashed of which Tom did all the chasing by himself to get to that point.

 

[Angliru]

If you blow the photo up, it appears that the chain is jammed between the big ring and the small ring? Chain goes up to the derailleur but is jammed between rings on the front and bottom? Someone with better photoshop skills than me may see it differently?

You can clearly see the teeth on the big chainring, and the position of the chain appears to hint that it is in fact between the big and small. Good eyes Spider1964!

 

[Jacques Tati]

There are signs that don't lie. On the semi classics, Boonen used to attack on a climb such as the Taaienberg to test his form. He hasn't done it this year.


And he was not "involved" in a crash, he provoked it.


1...You clearly didnt watch Het (Volk) Nieuwsbald.

2...You clearly didnt watch Dwars Door either......

And of course you must be suggesting he threw his own water bottle between the frame and back wheel to take himself out of the race.

Write fact not fiction....****

 

[horizon27]

To say Boonen is past his prime is a legitimate question.However he has come back from knee surgery and illness.People said that Ivan Basso was past his prime in 2009,wins the giro the next year.He proberly needs to change team,garmin cervelo would be a perfect team I am thinking.

 

[El Pistolero]

BMC would be a good team for him. Right now they're leaderless.

 

[Cimber]

To say Boonen is past his prime is a legitimate question.However he has come back from knee surgery and illness.People said that Ivan Basso was past his prime in 2009,wins the giro the next year.He proberly needs to change team,garmin cervelo would be a perfect team I am thinking.

I cant see Tom and Thor on the same team tbh.

BMC is probably a good bet

 

[Mambo95]

To say Boonen is past his prime is a legitimate question.However he has come back from knee surgery and illness.People said that Ivan Basso was past his prime in 2009,wins the giro the next year.He proberly needs to change team,garmin cervelo would be a perfect team I am thinking.

I think Sky would be a good fit for him. They've got a good classics team already, but no-one to really finish the job. And in De Jongh and Knaven, they've got two ex-teammates as DSs.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

BMC would be a good team for him. Right now they're leaderless.

Yup, the fit is almost perfect with BMC. Especially if Ballan is no longer employable.

Who else has a team that's significantly better than Quickstep? Garmin but they've got too many cooks already.

Sky, a possibility but the fit isn't nearly so good, especially if Cavendish moves there.

Who else? HTC, Katushya, Saxo, Astana, Radioshack, Vacansoleil; are they any better than Quickstep?

Rabobank?

 

[sublimit]

BMC would be a good team for him. Right now they're leaderless.

He can finish races off so Sky or BMC should come in for him.

 

[Mambo95]

Yup, the fit is almost perfect with BMC. Especially if Ballan is no longer employable.

Who else has a team that's significantly better than Quickstep? Garmin but they've got too many cooks already.

Sky, a possibility but the fit isn't nearly so good, especially if Cavendish moves there.

Who else? HTC, Katushya, Saxo, Astana, Radioshack, Vacansoleil; are they any better than Quickstep?

Rabobank?

It's not so much whether any of these teams are better than QS, but more that he might be going a little stale at QS and a move to a different team with a different approach may revitalise him.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

It's not so much whether any of these teams are better than QS, but more that he might be going a little stale at QS and a move to a different team with a different approach may revitalise him.

If that's the case wouldn't he be most likely to go to a French or Belgian team as he almost did before? depending on Pro tour status of course.

 

[Ryaguas]

Garmin cervelo would be a perfect team I am thinking.

hahahaha... poor Thor... first lose his position as sprinter now You can bring Boonen to the squad...

 

[El Pistolero]

Another good alternative would be the merger of Quickstep and Lotto. Lefevre already said he'd like something like that.

Can you imagine Boonen and Gilbert in the Ronde and San Remo together? Would be a killer team with Sylvain Chavanel there as well.

 

[Ryaguas]

Who else? HTC, Katushya, Saxo, Astana, Radioshack, Vacansoleil; are they any better than Quickstep?

Rabobank?

The Rabobus no... they have Matti

I'll expose my neck again and I'll say it... He needs to go to Saxo with Riis... next year Saxo will have a better team for the Classics and Riis really knows how to motivate his riders... He made Nuyens win a RVV FFS!!!!

 

[raddone]

Another good alternative would be the merger of Quickstep and Lotto. Lefevre already said he'd like something like that.

Can you imagine Boonen and Gilbert in the Ronde and San Remo together? Would be a killer team with Sylvain Chavanel there as well.

That would be the worst alternative. Think Garmin and Cervelo last year compared to this year.

 

[Angliru]

The Rabobus no... they have Matti

I'll expose my neck again and I'll say it... He needs to go to Saxo with Riis... next year Saxo will have a better team for the Classics and Riis really knows how to motivate his riders... He made Nuyens win a RVV FFS!!!!

That is an idea and during the 2009 Tour Boonen was one of the only riders who was publicly sympathetic to Contador's plight at Tour with the internal issues at Astana.

 

[El Pistolero]

That would be the worst alternative. Think Garmin and Cervelo last year compared to this year.

Ah, but Boonen and Gilbert are winners and not losers like Hushovd.

Between them they've won 7 Monuments vs 0 from Haussler, Thor and Farrar.

I said this last year as well, I don't think they have a stronger team for these kind of monuments than Quickstep for example(before getting decimated)
It's all just hype. Yeah, they won Paris-Roubaix this year, but not with one of their stars who were (indirectly) responsible of the hype. You don't get a lot of Paris-Roubaix editions where the whole Quickstep squad gets decimated because of bad luck.

 

[Lanark]

If it wasn't for Devolder, Vacansoleil would be a good team for him. To justify his salary he needs a team with a sponsor with a big focus on the northern european market. A Belgian, Dutch or French team would make the most sense for him (or a team with a really international approach, like HTC or Saxo).

 

[roundabout]

What's the problem with Devolder? He will suddenly rediscover form at the sight of Tom in the Vacansoleil jersey?

 

[Lanark]

Boonen lost De Ronde twice with great legs because his teammate was in front, I doubt he would like to see that happen a third time.

 

[Parrulo]

i don't think he is past his time. he had some knee problems and prolly isn't very motivated atm (lefreve isn't that great at doing so tbh)

he should go to saxo, riis is one of the best if not the very best DS in the peloton and he knows how to build his team and motivate his rider and also prepare them for the races.

besides we all know that boonen would have done the double both in 2008 and 2009 if not for devolder.

but boonen will prove the guys who say he is past his prime wrong by winning the worlds this season

also bmc would be a good choice cus they have a good team but the riis factor (no hidden doping pun here) is just very important.

p.s. didn't boonen fall because a rabo rider fell in front of him?

 

[El Oso]

Wouldn't Flecha be an issue at Sky? For some reason I just don't see Sky as a good fit, although it would be interesting to see him and Cav on the same team.

As a former Postal rider maybe RetirementShack? Or did he have a falling out with Bruyneel?

I agree that BMC or Saxo would be the best fit.

 

[horizon27]

I cant see Tom and Thor on the same team tbh.

BMC is probably a good bet

Yeah your proberly right,although Thor will be 34 next year.Boonen and garmin cervelo would proberly be unbeatable in the classics.

 

[luckyboy]

Saxo or BMC would be the best for him to go to.

He isn't past his prime.